Grits, Red-eye gravy & Biscuits...

Country ham slices with fresh baked buttermilk biscuits from scratch, red eye gravy and grits are all elements of a true Southern breakfast.

After we had enjoyed the Country Ham on Christmas Day, the next morning, I slice off a few ¼ to ½ -inch thick slices and slowly cook them in a skillet until hot, turning often, so you do not over cook it. I like to pour about a ¼ cup Cocoa-Cola or cold black coffee in the pan while I am frying the ham. Remove slices and reduce liquid by about a ¼th. This is what we Southerns call “red-eye gravy". Spoon the gravy over the slices of ham and serve with hot biscuits.



Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chilled butter, cubed
¾ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the cubed butter and process until a coarse meal forms.

Transfer to a large bowl and add buttermilk. Combine until dough forms. Turn out on to a floured work surface and knead for 30 seconds. Do not overwork the dough.

Roll dough out into ½-inch thickness and cut with a 2-inch floured biscuit cutter. Place on baking sheet and let rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Serve hot with slices of Country Ham or jams and jellies.

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Creamy Grits

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 cups water
½ cup grits
1 to 2 cups milk, cream, half-n-half, water or stock

Drop the butter into the water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the grits, return to a boil, and reduce the heat, allowing the grits to cook at a low boil for 10 minutes or so, until the grits are very thick and have absorbed most of the water, stirring occasionally to prevent the grits from sticking.

Add about ½ cup of the milk or cream to the pot and turn down the heat, allowing the grits to simmer for another 10 minutes or so. As the liquid evaporates or is absorbed, add more cream or milk, cooking the grits until the desired consistency is reached, a total cooking time of at least an hour. The grits should be piping hot when served; slightly soupy but full-bodied enough that they do not run on the plate.

Serves 2 to 4

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George’s notes:

• For all of you who don’t like grits, here is a “tidbit” that might change your mind. It is sometimes said that dry grits can be used to kill ants by causing them to explode as the grits expand inside them; however, laboratory results conducted on fire ants suggest that grits are ineffective.
• Grits is similar to other thick corn-based porridges from around the world such as polenta.

Country Ham with Marsala-Honey Glaze...

Years ago, the dilemma facing cooks was how to keep freshly butchered meat from spoiling without refrigeration. Hogs were butchered in the late fall when the temperature was down around 33 degrees, and while the meat was fresh, it was salt cured. The next spring any leftovers would be smoked under a fire of green hickory or peppered. Sausage was packed in the intestines of the hog, tied off and also hung in the smokehouse for curing. Salting, peppering, and smoking protected the meat from spoiling and from insects. Today it's that salt, pepper, and smoky flavor that we love in country ham, bacon, and sausage.

For Christmas dinner, my family always has a genuine Smithfield Ham, from Virginia. There are not many things that get better than this. But there are certain steps one needs to do to bring it to its proper perfection and the dinner table.

When it arrives at your door, it has not been cooked; but requires no refrigeration at room temperatures (75 degrees F.) until cut. First with warm water wash and scrub the ham clean of excess salt. Then you must soak it in water overnight, this continuing to get rid it of the excess salt.

The next morning in a pre-heat 250 degree F oven, bake the whole ham in a roasting pan for about 25 minutes per pound, until an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. The ham is done when you can stick a knife into it with a little resistance and the meat begins to separate from the bone. At this point, take it out of the oven and remove the skin and excess fat.

Before I return the ham back to the oven; I score it in a diamond pattern with a knife. Then I glaze the whole ham with a Marsala-Honey Glaze (recipe below). Brush the mixture onto ham and place back into the oven. Allow the ham to cook for 45 minutes before brushing again. Glaze the ham a final time and cook for about 25 minutes.

Remove from oven, allowing it to rest about 20 minutes. Then slice and serve.


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Marsala-Honey Glaze

Ingredients:
1 cooked ham, about 8-10 pounds
½ cup honey
½ cup Marsala wine
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3-4 tablespoons whole cloves

Combine honey, marsala wine, and cider vinegar in small bowl. Brush mixture onto ham and before placing ham back into the oven. Allow ham to cook for 45 minutes before brushing again. Glaze ham again and continue to bake 20-25 minutes longer. Remove, slice and serve

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George’s notes:

• Country ham or Virginia ham is a variety of cured ham from the United States, associated with the Southern United States. It is typically very salty in taste.
• Country ham can be compared to prosciutto, but prosciutto is not smoked, and is generally more moist than a country ham. It is also usually sliced much thinner instead of the thicker traditional country ham "steaks".

Christmas Morning French Toast...

Ok, tomorrow is the best day of the year in any home ~ for some with small children, it could also be an early morning, so set the coffee for an early morning brew and get ready for an exciting day.

After all the packages are un-wrapped and the tree is bare of gifts; head to the kitchen and fix a breakfast bunch that will become part of your family holiday memories. Here is a recipe that has been part of our Christmas mornings.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night………………



Rum-Raisin Christmas Morning French Toast

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup Eggnog
2 tablespoons Dark Rum (optional)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon salt
12 slices cinnamon swirl raisin bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
~ 1 cup sugar to 1½ tablespoons cinnamon

On the stove heat heavy skillet.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs with a wire whip.
Add eggnog, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, whip to combine. Soak bread slices in egg mixture for 1½ to 2 minutes. Soak only as many pieces of bread as you can fit in your griddle at one time. Two batches of six or three batches of four. Add melted butter to the medium hot griddle.

Sprinkle each slice of soaked bread with ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon sugar and lay sugar side down in the griddle. Sprinkle additional ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon sugar on top of each slice in the griddle. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until French toast is a light golden brown and turn to cook other side.

Serve hot with creamy butter rum sauce or butter and maple syrup.

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Butter Rum Sauce
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons light or dark rum

In a medium size saucepan combine sugar, 2 cups water, cinnamon, and butter and bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch blended with remaining ¼ cup water and simmer, stirring, until sauce is clear. Remove from heat and add rum. Sauce will be thin.

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George's notes:

• The Butter Rum Sauce is an excellent addition poured over my Christmas Fruitcake.

Gift giving...

Yesterday, I was trying to finish up some last-minute gifts before I head out for Christmas. Gift giving sometimes becomes a real hassle when you don't really know the person very well, and a gift of some sort is obligatory ~ like to your boss or co-workers. Even when you know the person really well but have given them practically everything they ever wanted or needed on previous occasions ~ I’m talking next door neighbors and old friends, who are closer to you than family.

Books are a good fall-back for me, as far as gifting my nearest and dearest, but an even better all-purpose gift is something to eat, and I don't mean just a plate of Christmas cookies or one of those little baskets from Swiss Colony with the triangular little packets of cheese-food that taste like a pair of cruddy gym-socks, or one of those lavish and overpriced catalogue numbers. Although I love Harry & David fruit baskets, especially their delicious pears. I mean a carefully constructed food basket, and no, you do not need Martha Stewarts' skills - or her pocketbook.

My favorite gift food-basket starts with a cookbook: any cookbook. Those tiny specialty cookbooks about the size of a Beatrix Potter book, the thin paper-bound books that used to be given away by companies, any of the Sunset cookbooks - really, anything that has some nice recipes in it that would appeal to the recipient. I pick-up cookbooks of this kind at the half price book section of my local bookshop. But caution, you do not want to build a basket around a cookbook of sweets for someone that is a diabetic, or a book of barbequed meats for a vegan.

Pick a recipe out of the book, mark the recipe with a book mark, or a piece of ribbon ~ and measure out all the ingredients for it in appropriate containers, carefully labeled and packaged. I have bought little bottles and cellophane bags, and sheets of labels at the Container Store, or hobby shop, or at the local big-box import place. You can also purchase sheets of shrink-wrap, or shrink-wrap bags— the kind that you can use a hair-dryer to shrink over the basket when it is all finished, and excelsior or finely shredded packing materiel at the same place.

Really, you are only limited by your budget; there is nothing to stop you from building a basket around a whole meal— but if perishables are included, either assemble at the last minute, or keep refrigerated. Include in a bottle of wine, or a loaf of bakery bread, if you like, and any fancy accessories you can afford. I have done baskets based on a recipe for tea bread, and adorned it with a wooden spoon or an inexpensive metal whisk. I did a basket for the head of the firm I worked for many Christmases ago with the recipe for this Lentil soup and a copy of the book it was taken from. The finished basket was trimmed with a bunch of bay-leaves and whole garlic clove, which I knew she loved. She absolutely adored it and early the following year, gave me a raise.

It's not strictly required to stick to items for human consumption, either: I did a basket for some friends moving into a new house in the suburbs, filled with a bird feeder, a pound of bird-seed to fill it, and a little field guide to local birds. I also did a basket for friend who was re-doing their bathroom, which included a spa-style shower head, some aromatherapy soaking salts and various toiletries, and a really nice terrycloth hotel-type robe. It's not even strictly necessary to use a basket, either; just some sort of appropriate container; say, a terracotta pot for a collection of gardening supplies, or one of those big tins for a collection of gourmet popcorns, with a popper and an oven mitt, for instance.

About the baskets, though; this is the embarrassing part. To buy an empty basket at retail price will likely make it the most expensive single element, which is counterproductive to my goal of a high-end one-off gift basket at an affordable price. So, in other words, buy a Neiman-Marcus quality basket at a Walmart cost. And the best place to find a variety of attractive baskets is at the thrift stores and flea markets, even yard sales will do. I usually pay only a dollar or two. They can be washed in mild soap and warm water and hung out in the sun, to give them that new basket look. And it's not like anyone will really be looking at the basket; they'll be looking at the contents anyway, and with luck, salivating slightly.

So there you are: stuck for a gift for someone you only know casually? Food is always gratefully received ~ trust me; it’s a gift we all would want to receive.

Wishing you all a very Happy Holiday and Joyous New Year!

Christmas Mincemeat and more...

Mincemeat has been my favorite holiday pie since I was a little boy. Especially when it is made from an old-fashioned mincemeat recipe ~ not the bottled version purchased at your local store. The flavor is sort of like a Middle Eastern mixture of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. There's a definite meaty taste, which I really like, with an ever-so-slight sweet flavor.

You might have noticed that I am a bit of an Anglophile when it comes to cooking. I love the various traditions and legends practiced in England. One legend goes, when mincemeat is made in an English kitchen, all the family takes turns in stirring and making a secret wish. The mixture is always stirred clockwise, the direction in which the sun is assumed to proceed around an earth at the center of the universe. To stir in a counter-clockwise direction is to ask for trouble in the coming year!

So I usually make a couple of batches of my Christmas mincemeat and use it for pies and give jars to family & friends. Hoping they will make a Christmas Mince Pie filled with this delicious homemade mincemeat. Christmas mincemeat is not, as the name suggests ~ meat, if you look at the Christmas Mincemeat recipe you will see it is sugar, fruits both fresh and dried, Brandy and suet.

The recipe below is remarkably easy to make and homemade mincemeat is such a treat it is worth doing. Make your mincemeat ahead of time to give it time to mature but don't worry if you are last-minute, it still tastes good.


Christmas Mincemeat

Ingredients:
1¾ cups dried currants
1¼ cups brown sugar
1½ cups apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1¼ cups golden raisins
1¼ cups raisins
⅔ cup mixed peel of lime & orange, chopped
1¼ cups cold suet, shredded
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Lemons, grated zest and juice
⅔ cup Brandy

In a large baking bowl combine all the ingredients except the brandy. Stir really well making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave overnight.

Next day, heat the oven to 225 degree F. Remove the tea towel and cover the bowl with foil and place in the warmed oven for 2½ hours. The suet will have melted but don't worry; this is how it should be as the fat is what will help to preserve the mincemeat. Stir well and leave to one side to cool, stirring from time to time.

Once cool stir the mincemeat again, add the brandy and stir again.
Fill sterilized jars with the cold mincemeat, cover a lid. The mincemeat will keep up to one year in a cool, dark place.

Makes 3 – 16 ounce jars

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Old-Fashioned Christmas Mincemeat Pie

Ingredients:
Pastry for 9-inch two crust pie
~ see my basic pie crust recipe below
1 quart prepared mincemeat, recipe above
~ 1 (28-ounce) jar prepared mincemeat pie filling may be substituted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pie crust.
Spoon prepared mincemeat into crust-lined plate. Cover with remaining crust and flute. Cut slits in crust so steam can escape. Cover edge with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.

Bake pie 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and filling bubbles. Remove aluminum foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack before cutting and serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8

* I usually will do a lattice crust on top. Instructions below.
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Basic Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2⅔ cups all purposed flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off button, cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Beat egg and 3 tablespoons water in small bowl to blend. Add egg to flour mixture.

Process until moist crumbs form, adding water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if dough is dry. On a light floured service, divide dough into 2 balls.

Flatten balls into disk and chill for 1 hour.
Let dough soften to room temperature before rolling.

To make a lattice top:

Before starting the lattice top, roll out half of your pie dough and line your pie dish with it. The dough should extend beyond the rim of the pie dish by about half an inch. Put it in the refrigerator to chill while you work on the lattice. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the other half of your pie dough to the same extent as the first half (about 3 inches beyond the diameter of your pie dish). It's easier to work with the dough if it is chilled, so if it the dough has softened too much, put the rolled-out piece on a flat cookie sheet and chill it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.

Cut the dough into even strips, ½-inch to ¾-inch wide, depending on how thick you want your lattice strips. You can use a blunt knife with or without a ruler or straight edge to guide you, or you can use a pizza wheel or a pastry wheel if you have one.

Fill your pie shell with the pie filling. Lay out 4 to 7 parallel strips of the pie dough, depending on how thick your strips are, on top of the filling, with about ½-inch to ¾-inch space between them. Fold back every other strip.

Place one long strip of dough perpendicular to the parallel strips as shown. Unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip.

Now take the parallel strips that are running underneath the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the perpendicular strip, as shown. Lay down a second perpendicular strip of dough next to the first strip, with some space between the strips. Unfold the folded parallel strips over the second strip.

Continue this process until the weave is complete over the top of the pie.

Trim the edges of the strips flush with the dough of the underlying pie dish, which should be about half an inch over the sides. Fold back the rim of the shell over the edge of the lattice strips, and crimp to secure.

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George’s notes:

• Mincemeat developed as a way of preserving meat without salting or smoking some 500 years ago in England, where mince pies are still considered an essential accompaniment to holiday dinners just like the traditional plum pudding. This pie is a remnant of a medieval tradition of spiced meat dishes, usually minced mutton, that have survived because of its association with Christmas. This pies have also been known as Christmas Pies. Mince pie as part of the Christmas table had long been an English custom.
• Today, we are accustomed to eating mince pie as a dessert, but actually "minced" pie and its follow-up "mincemeat pie" began as a main course dish with with more meat than fruit (a mixture of meat, dried fruits, and spices). As fruits and spices became more plentiful in the 17th century, the spiciness of the pies increased accordingly.

Cheese Straws...

There is something about nibbles that add to entertaining. They sometimes get a conversation going or by passing them around gives an opportunity to interrupt a friend in need to escape a dull moment. One of my favorite cocktail nibbles is Cheese Straws ~ a rich and buttery bite, flavored with sharp cheddar cheese.

Growing up in Augusta, Georgia, there was a local bakery ~Smokes, that had the absolutely best cheese straws. Just the right size to pop into ones mouth, yet loaded with buttery goodness. They sold them by the pound and you got quite a lot that way. Every home you went to during any holiday ~ The Masters included ~ there was Sam Smokes’ cheese straws. Well after some 65 years, old Sam retired and his staff of ladies who had been there since Probation, all retired too. No more Smokes, not more cheese straws.

So what to do, but winkle the recipe out of one of the old pastry chefs. Being a Southern, does have its advantages ~ a wink here, a nod there and telling stories about past parties of old and events you know this sweet little lady catered. It was probably easier for “the gate crushers” to get into that State Dinner recently at The White House; but my winking & nodding worked ~ here is old Sam Smokes’ Cheese Straw recipe. Enjoy this classic, quick, and easy appetizer that can be served with drinks at any occasion!

Sam Smokes’ Cheese Straws

Ingredients:
14 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 cups sharp Cheddar cheese
1¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, more or less
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce


Put the butter and cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour, salt, cayenne, and Worcestershire; and blend thoroughly. If a stand mixer is not used, put the flour, salt and cayenne in a bowl. Add the butter, cheese, and Worcestershire, and using two knives or a pastry blender, thoroughly blending together. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour..

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Roll small amounts of dough into a long tube about the width of a straw and cut in desired lengths. Or, roll dough out on a floured surface to about ⅛ -inch to ¼ -inch thickness, cut into strips, and gently twist. Arrange the strips on 1 or 2 un-greased baking sheets.

Bake in preheated 300 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the straws are crisp and lightly browned. Remove and let cool.

Makes about 5 to 6 dozen

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George’s notes:

• You can roll out the dough and cut them into shapes with cookie/biscuit cutters, which I general do.
• These make a great gift to take with you, when you are feeling a gift is required.
• For anyone who wants to make these cheese straws in advance, they freeze extremely well. Just bring them out about an hour or so before you plan to serve them.

Christmas Fruitcake...

Fruitcake at Christmas time is an old holiday tradition. It's one of those foods that you either love or hate. Those who hate fruitcake can't imagine why anyone would want to eat it. Another holiday tradition is fruitcake jokes. Fruitcake bashers often refer to them as bricks or door stops.

But...People really do eat fruitcake! Some people ~ like me ~ REALLY love fruitcake. It's our passion and the highlight of the Christmas season.

While the practice of making cakes with dried fruits, honey and nuts may be traced back to ancient times, food historians generally agree that fruitcake ~ as we know it today ~ dates back to the Middle ages. Early versions of the rich fruit cake, such as Scottish Black Bun dating from the Middle Ages, were luxuries for special occasions. Fruitcakes have been used for celebrations ever since, in the early 18th century the bride cakes and plumb cakes, descended from these enriched bread recipes.

My love of fruitcake comes from my Scottish ancestors. For me, it's impossible to imagine a Christmas without fruitcake. Every year in late summer, my great- Aunt Lillian would make her Fruitcake using her great- grandmother's recipe, wrapped it in several layers of cheesecloth and safely stored them on the top shelf in the pantry -- beyond anyone’s reach. Weekly she would bring all of them down and pour a generous amount of her homemade peach brandy over them ~ letting it soak deeply into each cake.

Aunt Lillian loved her Christmas cakes; because they were fruit-filled, moist, and absolutely delicious. The first week of December, she would wrap them up and mail them out to all her relatives. It became a daily question when I got home from school, “Has the fruitcake arrived?”

So, throughout the holidays, whenever visitors came, they could never leave without first sampling a piece or two of Aunt Lillian’s fruitcake. Now you can use the same old-fashioned Christmas Fruitcake recipe to make your own delicious memories.


Dark Christmas Fruitcake

Ingredients:
4 cups raisins
1 cup candied cherries - halved
1 cup candied pineapple
1 cup diced candied mixed fruit
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup thinly sliced almonds
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
6 eggs - separated
1 cup vegetable shortening
1½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ square unsweetened baking chocolate (melted)
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 300 degree F.

Thoroughly grease a 4 x 10 -inch cake pan or 2 large loaf pans. Line the bottom and sides with aluminum foil. Lightly spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the fruit and nuts. Toss the mixture with 1 cup flour to coat. In a second bowl, sift the remaining flour with the baking soda and spices.

In a very large bowl, at medium speed, beat the shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate & mix well. At low speed, alternately beat in the flour/spice mixture and the fruit juices.

In a separate bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter. Add the fruit and nut mixture and stir in by hand until all the ingredients are well mixed. Turn the batter into the prepared pan (1 tube pan or 2 large loaf pans or 3 small loaf pans).

Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degree F – If using a tube cake pan for 2 hours and 20 minutes; or if you are using 2 large loaf pans for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan, on a wire rack. Remove the cooled cake from the pan and wrap it well in cheesecloth.

Make sure to make about two month before you plan to serve. That way, you can soak it in the brandy of your choice several times ~ allowing the brandy to penetrate through out the fruitcake.

Serves 12


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George’s notes:

• The Society for the Protection & Preservation of Fruitcake wants to defend this cake's reputation and make sure it's part of every Christmas season for generations of future fruit cake lovers.
• One of the classic phrases regarding the longevity of fruitcake was coined in 1983 by Russell Baker: "Fruitcake is forever."
• Another goes… "Thirty-four years ago, I inherited the family fruitcake. Fruitcake is the only food durable enough to become a family heirloom. It had been in my grandmother's possession since 1880, and she passed it to a niece in 1933."
• Here's a good one... "When my great- grandmother inherited it, it was already 86 years old, having been baked by her great-grandfather in 1794 as a Christmas gift for President George Washington. Washington, with his high-flown view of ethical standards for Government workers, sent it back with thanks, explaining that he thought it unseemly for Presidents to accept gifts weighing more than 80 pounds, even though they were only eight inches in diameter...There is no doubt...about the fruitcake's great age. Sawing into it six Christmas ago, I came across a fragment of a 1794 newspaper with an account of the lynching of a real-estate speculator in New York City."
• "Take the story of the travelling fruitcake, years on the road like the Flying Dutchman or the Man Without A Country. One family received it on some long ago Christmas from distant friends. On the following Christmas, they wrapped it in elaborate packaging and sent it back to the givers. On the next holiday, it returned. And so on and so on - the gift that keeps on giving." --- Let Them Eat Fruitcake, by Mary Lou Healy
• Just in case you were interested...The oldest fruitcake company in the United States is the Collin Street Bakery, Corsicana Texas [1896]

My Secret Eggnog...

Served from a punch bowl, this popular holiday beverage deserves a toast for surviving the taste test of time.

As a child growing up, I looked forward to the Christmas Season when the milkman would deliver milk and cream to our home. For many southern families, it wouldn't be Christmas without whipping up Grandma's eggnog recipe. Eggnog is no longer confined to the punch bowl, as evidenced by the recent recipes for eggnog cupcakes, ice cream, truffles and French toast. Even though, eggnog's origins are somewhat obscure, it's long been a Gaston holiday staple.

Christmas is fast approaching and with it the time for those wonderful holiday drinks - hot toddies, mulled wine, and of course, Southern Eggnog. Now it happens that I make quite possibly the best eggnog in the South. If you have any doubts as to the veracity of my seemingly extravagant claim, ask anyone who has experienced it and they will, no doubt, tell you that it is unlike any eggnog you have ever tasted.

In the spirit of the season and because I have a noble spirit and generous heart, I am going to share my secret Southern Eggnog recipe with my loyal readers and anyone else that stops by.

I've always loved eggnog and have tried many variations over the years. At one point I decided to trace eggnog back to its roots. I wanted to find how it was first made, the “Mother of all Eggnogs”. This recipe dates from the mid-1700s, and while it may not be the first eggnog, it's old enough for me. I've adjusted the amount to a reasonable quantity (the original recipe made about five gallons) and adapted it to modern ingredients ~ not easy to find 18th century style loaf sugar.

The most important thing about this eggnog is that it should age at least two weeks - longer if possible - so if you're going to try it, now's the time to start. I usually mix up mine around now.

You'll need a 2 gallon crock. If you don't have or can't find one, a couple of 1 gallon jars will do ~ but they lack the authenticity of a 18th century crock. The recipe makes about a gallon of eggnog base, but you need sloshing room to stir the mixture.

My Secret Eggnog Base

Ingredients:
3 quarts Rum
~ I use a dark Cuban rum, but you can use any rum you like. You can also vary the flavor by using 2 quarts Rum and 1 quart Brandy, or 2 quarts Rum and 1 quart Captain Morgan's, or whatever strikes your fancy. I've done an interesting variation by adding a pint of Southern Comfort. But, it is probably best to stick to the original all-rum version the first time you make it.

1 quart whole milk (not 2%)

24 fresh egg yolks - I get my eggs from a local farm, but at least use fresh organic veggie-fed free range eggs – like Eggland’s Best. Use the leftover whites to make an angel food cake or something with lots of meringue.

3 cups sugar, approximately ~ here's another item that has a lot of flexibility. I usually use light brown sugar, but I've also used dark brown sugar, white sugar and a mixture thereof.

Freshly grated nutmeg to taste. You can also add a bit of cinnamon and/or cloves, but be careful - a little goes a long way and too much of either will overpower the other flavors. My personal preference is for nuttin' but nutmeg.


Making the base…

Separate the eggs ~ I usually break each egg into a small bowl and remove the white stuff before I put them all together ~ Beat the eggs well till they're a bit frothy. Pour the bottles of rum into the crock, add the eggs, sugar, and nutmeg, and stir well. Cover the crock and put it in a cool place and let it age until Christmas. Give it a stir every three or four days. I suppose you could put it in the fridge, but it's not necessary unless you live somewhere that doesn't have cool places.

For those of you, who worry about such things, let me reassure you that there's no danger of spoilage with the raw eggs and milk - the amount of alcohol takes care of everything. I've been making this eggnog for more than 25 years and no one's ever gotten sick from it. I've kept bottles of previous years' aged base in the fridge for 5 or 6 months and it was still just fine.

To finish the recipe…

Once the base has aged, it's not for drinking yet. It's just the base.
Just before serving, whip heavy cream until it is thick but still pourable. Gently fold an equal volume of the whipped cream into the base, top with a grating of fresh nutmeg and serve. If I'm only doing a couple of servings, I mix the base and the cream individually in the mugs. If it's for serving to a group, I mix the whole batch in a punchbowl.

CAUTION: Once it has aged and is mixed with cream, it's very smooth and mellow and doesn't taste like it has as much alcohol as it does. It's also very, very rich, so approach it with the sensibility you would exercise with fine cream pastries.

I usually make a double batch so I have enough for Christmas giving to friends. I bottle the base in Grolsch beer bottles - the kind with the wire bale lid - and give it together with a pint of heavy cream and a whole nutmeg.

I can hardly wait until this year's batch is ready...

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Now for those folks who aren’t quite adventurous, here is my “modern-day” simpler eggnog recipe, which is just as good ~ some say better ~ but not so out there in “crock & bottle” land.

Classic Southern Eggnog

Ingredients:
1 cup brandy
½ cup sherry wine
½ cup Jamaican rum
½ cup good bourbon whiskey
12 eggs, separated
¾ cup white sugar
1 quart whole milk
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart vanilla ice cream, soupy soft
1 tablespoon freshly ground nutmeg as garnish

Pour the brandy, sherry, rum, and whiskey into a bowl.

Place the egg yolks and egg whites into two separate, large mixing bowls. Set the egg whites aside. Beat the egg yolks until light and frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar until the egg mixture is light colored. Slowly beat in the liquor mixture. With the mixer still running, pour in the milk and heavy cream until blended.

Using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the milk mixture. Pour into two clean, gallon-size plastic milk containers. Refrigerate at least 5 days, or 10 days for an even smoother taste. Shake the container occasionally to keep the alcohol from separating.

To serve, pour the eggnog into a punch bowl. Whisk to blend milk mixture, add the quart of vanilla ice cream, and garnish with nutmeg.

Enjoy with as many friends as possible!

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George’s notes:

• Most theories behind the origin of eggnog center on Europe and colonial America. One theory is that Europeans first created eggnog by adding wine or sherry to the drinks they made out of eggs and milk to make their dairy products last longer in the absence of refrigeration. Most theories about the name, however, claim that colonial Americans were the first to coin the term "eggnog." One such theory is that colonial Americans added rum to their eggnog, which was then called "grog." The theory is that the drink was originally called "egg-and-grog," which became "egg-n-grog," which became "eggnog." Another theory comes from the fact that small wooden mugs used in taverns were called "noggins" and that putting an egg drink into a noggin soon gave way to the name "eggnog." Another interesting history tidbit: George Washington concocted his own recipe for eggnog that included rye whiskey, brandy, rum and sherry.
• A true eggnog is highly alcoholic and not very sweet. Those accustomed to the unctuous qualities of so-called eggnog mixes from the commercial dairy are usually taken aback at the robust flavors of the true drink. The proper texture is achieved through time; the eggs are set, or cooked gently, by the alcohol of the whiskey.

Red Velvet Cake...

Red Velvet Cake is a mellow chocolate cake with an intense red color. A white cream cheese icing is traditional, preferably applied with such care that when you cut it, the cake’s redness is a surprise.

A Southern specialty, the Red Velvet Cake owes its red color to history. Originally, its deep red color was thought to be due to a reaction between early varieties of cocoa and baking soda. But this reaction also gave the cake a soapy taste. Thereafter, cooks and bakers must have opted for food color or an edible red dye to get the effect. In the Southern states, where the Red Velvet Cake originated, it was made with cocoa and beet, hence the original red color effect. The contrasting white frosting completes the effect that has been related to the contrast between Good and Evil.

From the time I was old enough to speak my will, I would ask for a Red Velvet Cake for dessert. Why? Because it was the cake my mother always made at Christmas; thus I equated Red Velvet Cake with wrapped presents & toys ~ a little of the “evil wanting good”.

The recipe was first published in Mrs. Rorder's New Cook Book by Sarah Tyson Rorer, and found its way across magazines and cookbooks by 1913. The Waldorf Astoria Hotel has often been credited for developing this delicious dessert, but the venue hasn't provided enough proof to support its status as the world's first red velvet cake producer. Today, the hotel still serves a rich Red Velvet Cake that has many similarities to the original recipe. Here is a classic recipe used for at least four generation in my family. I hope you will give this recipe a try. Enjoy!

Classic Red Velvet Cake

Cake:
1½ cups sugar
½ cup shortening
2 eggs
2½ cups cake flour
1 cup butter milk
2 ounces red food coloring
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

In a mixing bowl, cream sugar, shortening and eggs. Gradually stir in flour and buttermilk. Combine food coloring, cocoa, salt and vanilla. Stir into flour mixture. Dissolve soda in vinegar and stir into batter.
Pour batter into 3 greased layer pans. Bake at 350° F for 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Icing:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup butter
1¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

In a large bowl, beat cheese, vanilla, butter and sugar; until light and fluffy. Spread icing between layers, on top and side of cake. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 12


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George’s notes:

• “It’s the Dolly Parton of cakes: a little bit tacky, but you love her,” said Angie Mosier, a food writer in Atlanta about the Classic Red Velvet Cake.
• In the 1989 film Steel Magnolias the groom's cake (another southern tradition) is a red velvet cake made in the shape of an armadillo.
• It has been told, that if a young lady sleeps with a slice of groom's cake under her pillow, she will supposedly dream of the man she will marry.
• In Canada a Red Velvet Cake was a signature dessert in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton’s department store chain in the 1940s and 1950s. Promoted as an "exclusive" Eaton's recipe, with employees who knew the recipe sworn to silence, many mistakenly believed the cake to be the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton.

Gingerbread Houses...

Ever thought of starting a family tradition that will turn into wonderful life long memories ~ How about creating your own gingerbread house. Making a gingerbread house is a great way to spend time with your children or grandchildren around the holidays. If you’ve ever been enchanted by gingerbread houses and thought it was too much trouble to make one, a quirky creation of your own might be easier than you think.

One suggestion before you start, keep it simple. There are packaged kits available or use the gingerbread and icing recipe below. You’ll be baking the gingerbread using a template for the walls and roof. The frosting is the glue that will hold you gingerbread house together, and decorations like gumdrops, pretzels, and candy canes will give it enough charm to distract attention from any flaws. I have provided a good recipe for gingerbread and frosting as well as a basic template, although there are probably thousands of others to use. Here is a great house template from allrecipes.com that gives you the simple building elements for walls, roof and doors. Just bake your gingerbread on baking sheets with sides and cut out the structure elements using the template.



It’s important to bake the best gingerbread as possible, so you don't want to burn the edges of your gingerbread pieces, so test the temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer before you begin. If you think your oven cooks unevenly, rotate the cookie sheet halfway through the baking process.

The trickiest part of making your gingerbread house is putting it all together, and for that you will need the gingerbread equivalent of glue...icing. Royal icing starts to dry as it is exposed to the air, so once you have a good consistency, keep it covered. If it starts to get too thick, add a little water at a time until it gets back to a consistency that works for you.


To apply icing, you will need a pastry bag. In a pinch you can use a freezer or storage bag in which you have cut a small hole in one bottom corner. A tip placed at the open end of the bag from the inside will produce a decorative pattern as you lay a bead of icing.

As you start to assemble your pieces, put them together on a sturdy base like a chopping board. Remember, you are going to have to move your finished house to a place of honor in your home. Many a gingerbread house has come crashing down because it was built on an unstable base, so do a little planning. Cardboard isn’t the best choice unless it’s very thick and strong. I like to use a decorative serving tray, that way it is sturdy no matter where you place it. Also, while you are assembling the gingerbread walls, lean them against soup cans from your cupboard to hold them upright. That way the walls can dry without the added stress of standing alone.


One of the key ingredients to having a great time creating your gingerbread house is in having a wide variety of edible decorations to trim the house with. Buy bulk candy, where you can purchase as much or as little as you want, makes it easy to get a lot of different candy varieties.


The traditional gingerbread house should be completely edible, so look around for unexpected additions that have good texture but aren't necessarily sweet. Breakfast cereal makes authentic looking roofing shingles, and some crackers can be fashioned into realistic shutters and doors. Gumdrops make great scrubs and candy sticks & pretzels make interesting fencing around the house. Sugar ice cream cone make wonderful Christmas trees. So, go wild and use your imagination. The skies the limit on decorations… just remember to have fun!



Gingerbread House

Ingredients:
House dough
8 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1¾ cups dark corn syrup
1 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup butter

Royal Icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
3 egg whites

For the house:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside.
In a saucepan, melt the corn syrup, brown sugar and butter over medium heat. Stirring occasionally until well blended. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and stir to blend until even in color. Divide dough into four equal parts; wrap in plastic. You may start rolling out dough or refrigerate up to 2 days.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and roll out dough into a 9-by-13-inch rectangle about ¼-inch thick. Cut out shapes for your house according to your plan. Leave shapes on baking sheet and bake at 350° F for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. Trim if necessary while shapes are warm. Cool until firm enough to handle.

Royal Icing:
In a mixing bowl, beat sugar, tartar and egg whites for about 7 minutes, until smooth and firm. This icing is used as the mortar for the sides and roof of the house.
Recipe makes 2½ to 3 cups. Repeat recipe for decorating. Do not double the recipe!

Use assorted colorful candies and gum drops to decorate.

Recipe provides enough gingerbread for one standard size house.
(click here for a printable simple house template)

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George’s notes:

• If you want to really be creative, I turn to Teresa Layman’s books Gingerbread for All Seasons and Gingerbread: Things to Make and Bake for larger more intricate templates and inspiration.
• Remember constructing your gingerbread house is no "brain surgery" ~ if you have crooked walls, so what. It just adds to the charm.

‘Twas the Night Before Sugar Plums...

As a child, I only knew of sugar plums through The Nutcracker and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Several years ago when I had a subscription to Gourmet, I jotted down a recipe for sugar plums, mostly because I had never tasted one before. These sugar plums are confections, not the fruits that you can read about on Wikipedia. They are quite easy to make and tend to be a huge hit with people who either don’t care for chocolate or just enjoy spices and dried fruits in a delectable bite. It’s a terrific aroma that floats through your house when you make a batch: the smells of orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, toasted almonds, honey.

I usually dust the sugar plums with confectioners’ sugar before serving. They stay fresh for sometime, thus making them perfect for the holidays. I sometimes tie them up in small little packages and give them as gifts with a copy the famed Sugar Plum story!

‘Twas the Night Before Sugar Plums

Ingredients:
12-ounce package pitted prunes
8-ounce package chopped dates
6-ounce package dried apricots
½ cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
⅔ cup sugar

In the bowl of a food processor, process the prunes, dates and apricots until finely chopped, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.

Transfer to a large bowl and add pecans, graham cracker crumbs and the orange and lemon zest. Mix completely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.

Using your palms, shape into ¾ -inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar and place on a baking sheet. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

You may then want to put the balls in small paper cups. Store in airtight container, refrigerated. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 5 dozen


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George's notes:

• Wrap these delectable bites in small festive boxes and give as gifts.
• These Sugar Plums freeze well, so you can make them early and bring out for Christmas Eve.

‘Tis the season to make cookies….

The coming of Christmas and Hanukkah brings many days of preparation and one of those days is making cookies. What is the holiday without a variety of your favorite cookies? I know that we each have a special cookie recipe, hand down from generation to generation that is always on our cookie tray.

One cookie that we all make is the Classic Rolled Sugar Cookie. Here is the recipe I use, that was used by a premier caterer in the Greenwich, CT area. A few years ago, I freelanced with them during the days leading up to the holidays. My assignment was to make 10,000 decorated sugar cookies. Each day I would prep dough and then start cutting out the chilled dough from the day before.

Here are a few tips I learned to help make the prefect Classic Rolled Sugar Cookie:

• Roll the dough out before chilling and then chill. I roll out my sugar cookie dough right after it is mixed up between 2 sheets of waxed paper, place it on to a flat baking sheet and put it in the fridge. Continue until all the dough is rolled out, stacking the dough sheets on top of the first one. You will go through a lot of waxed paper, but the convenience is worth it for me. When you're ready to cut them out, take out one sheet at a time, peel off the top waxed paper, lightly rub some flour onto the dough, replace the waxed paper and flip the dough sheet over. Peel off the now top sheet of waxed paper and you're ready to cut out your cookies. Collect the dough scraps in a plastic baggie so they don't dry out; re-roll when you have enough for a large sheet. I reuse some of the waxed paper sheets for re-rolling the scraps. A couple tips..... If the waxed paper slips on the counter while rolling, wipe the counter with a damp cloth. And while rolling the dough, sometimes the bottom waxed paper wrinkles, flip over the dough and waxed paper, release waxed paper and re-roll. This method of rolling out cookie dough has been a real time and mess saver for me.
• Decorating with colored sugars ~ Always prepare cookies by brushing with heavy cream or an egg white slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with decorative toppings.
• Decorating with food colors ~ Mix 1 egg yolk and ¼ teaspoon water. Divide mixture among several ramekins. Tint each with different food color to make you desired colors. Paint designs on cookies with small paint brushes. If paint thickens while standing, stir in a few drops of water.
• Decorating with icing ~ see directions below

There are so many wonderful cookie cutters, some handed down by relatives, some found at flea markets and some found on cooking websites. Whatever shape cookie you want to make, it is available. I like to use a variety of shapes & sizes to give your cookie tray a creative decorative look. Now lets get baking…


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Classic Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter. Add sugar and beat until smooth and light. Beat eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix until blended.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture and mix well.

Working the dough in ¼ batches, on a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Then place rolled dough sheets on wax paper lined baking trays; separating the dough with wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until completely chilled or overnight.

When ready to bake, cut out cookies with cookie cutter. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment and lightly greased.

Bake at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes or until just golden. Transfer cookies to a wire rack until cooled.



Sugar Cookie Icing

Ingredients:
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Milk, as needed

In a bowl, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla; cream with an electric mixer. Gradually enough milk to allow icing to spread or pipe through a pastry bag.

Divide icing into separate bowls and add drops of food coloring to color your icing.

If icing is too thick, add milk or if too runny, add confectioners' sugar.


Store in airtight containers in a cool place until you use them.

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George’s notes:

• Un-cut rolled dough keeps for several days in the refrigerator.
• Cooked, un-decorated cookies freeze well for several weeks. Just thaw before decorating.
• Photographs from Christmas past.